Girls Basketball: Germantown Academy routs Baldwin

WHITEMARSH — There’s not many better ways to kick off a season than to blow out a conference rival, and that’s exactly what Germantown Academy did in their season opener at home.

The Lady Patriots got the season off to a great start with a 64-16 win over Baldwin. GA crippled Baldwin early with a 24 point first quarter that the visitors never recovered from. Kiernan McCloskey had eight points in the first quarter to lead the rout.

“I thought we shared the ball better than we have in a long time,” GA coach Sherri Retif said. “We are making an effort to make high percentage shots this year and thats what we did tonight.”

GA made its intentions clear from the opening whistle. They had success on offense, but that was mainly because their defense suffocated the opponents to the point that Baldwin did not have a quarter point total in double digits, including a one-point third quarter. Retif applied a full court press for most of the first half, which made for constant ball pressure and Baldwin turnovers.

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Another area that GA excelled in was ball movement. Despite the disparity in the score line Baldwin’s big, athletic defense was not terrible, it was just picked apart by the efficient passing of the Lady Patriots. The girls seemed to always find the open player, even if it took five or six passes. That kind of patience this early in the season is never a bad thing.

“They are a big team and I know they will have some success this year,” Retif said of Baldwin. “It’s great when you have girls coming off the bench and contributing. As time went on we really ate away at them with our offense. I think we have really good leadership this year. We are right where we want to be, but we also need to get better in a lot of ways.”

Guard Olivia Gorman came of the bench and provided a spark for GA, scoring a game-high 10 points. Fran Sweeney, Melanie Rapella and Margaret Ann Hubbell each contributed seven points and the team as a whole rebounded very well.

The Lady Patriots were able to keep their high intensity all game, something that is easier said than done when a team is up by thirty or more points for the majority of the game. Retif has her team disciplined and ready to earn playing time on a very talented team.

“I think they value their minutes on the floor,” Retif said. “Everyone wants to make the most of their time in the game. We are trying to execute an offense out there and you need high energy for that. We were trying to be as efficient as possible on offense and we did that.”